Boys shoot home-made rockets skyward

TEMECULA -- Alec Stambersky launched his first rocket Friday,
and the smoke had no sooner cleared than the 7-year-old had plans
for more.

Alec, of Murrieta, along with 29 other boys ages 6 to 12, built
their own rockets at a week-long camp in the city. On Friday, they
brought the small missiles to a park. With the help of their
instructors, who set up launchpads and provided the engines, the
boys propelled their rockets and a few plastic aliens skyward.

"I want to get a whole pack of them," Alec said of the engines
to his mom, Jeanine Stambersky, as soon as he retrieved his
rocket.

Alec was taking part in a space and rocketry camp sponsored by
Science Adventures, a Huntington Beach-based company that puts on
summer and after-school programs across the country. This is the
second year Science Adventures ran its camp in Temecula, but the
first time campers were able to launch their rockets in the
city.

In preparation for the launch, the boys chanted, "We will, we
will, rocket you," sung to Queen's "We Will Rock You."

Then they shouted, "Five, four, three, two, one, blast off!" and
five boys at a time sent their missiles shooting into the air. The
rockets hissed and emitted clouds of smoke before their parachutes
deployed and they glided toward the grass.

"Our mission is to get them excited about science," said Nina
Conway, who was in charge of Friday's launch.

The camp is open to boys and girls, but girls tend to shy away
from the sciences, said Susan Diaz, camp coordinator. With programs
being cut in schools, it's important to expose children to the
sciences, Diaz said.

The boys learned about the laws of motion, air resistance and
friction. They learned how each part of the rocket works -- that
the nose cone allows for aerodynamics and the fins stabilize the
rocket, for example. They learned about planets, space and
stars.

"At the end of the week, they can tell you how their rocket
works," said Diaz, who taught the boys, along with teachers Lisa
Winters and Tammy Hinton.

The morning event drew moms and dads with still and video
cameras to Paloma Del Sol Park.

Kyle Elmore's parachute got tangled on its mission skyward.
Still, he was proud of his work.

"I learned how to build a rocket so when I go to a hobby shop I
can build it myself," Kyle, 10, of Murrieta, said smiling.

Alec said it was hard building the rocket. He was nervous before
he launched it.

"I thought it wasn't going to launch but it really did," he
said.

He wants to do the camp next year, his mom said.

"I knew it was going to be really fun," Alec said. "Now I'm
going to get a whole pack of motors and do it again."